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Breaking Point Part 1: The Dream
A soft jig of drum and lute flew merrily in the air and the cool spring breeze wafted the sweet smells of nature from the open windows. Nex laughed as he regaled a tale from his journeys in the North. A crowd of tavern-goers laughed with him, lost in his story as much as he was. At tale’s end Nex delivered a witty jest for the crowd, to avoid the true end of the story. He raised a mug and threw back his drink with vigor; it splashed over his face and onto his shirt. A girl to his right laughed in return and wiped the drink from his cheek as he sat back on his stool. Nex opened his wine struck eyes to look upon this goddess but instead he found no one. The windows slammed shut and the music was gone. “Does no one else wish to share a drink with me?” Nex questioned. The door burst open and a figure emerged quickly from the darkness outside. He was cloaked and hooded in fine cloth with wolf’s fur; a large shield upon his back. “I will drink with you.” Nex hopped up from his stool, bottle in hand. “Well met friend.” Nex approached the figure with his natural vigor. “Well met Indeed.” The figure extended a hand in peace. “I am-“ As Nex extended his hand in return the figure fell away into dust and as the dust blew past Nex it chilled him to the bone. The fire place in the corner erupted. Waaaaaarrrmmmm Yoooouuurseeeelfff Nex turned from the cold and walked to the fireplace. He could not place the feeling, but he knew something was not right. He passed Malek’Reth, imbedded in the wall; the same place he had wished to leave it so many years ago. He arrived at the fireplace. It was warm and welcoming. He felt the power grow in his soul and the strength in his body return. A voice spoke clear in Nex’s head as he warmed his hands on the fire. “Embrace the fire Nex. Allow yourself to give in. You will not survive without it.” Nex looked to Malek’Reth in the wall. The dark blade glistened in the light of the flickering fire. “Take it Nex.” He rose to his feet. “Take it!” He walked closer to the sword. “TAKE IT!” He reached out. Another voice called to him. “Nex!” He jerked away from the sword and fell backwards over a chair. He looked up to see a young Rakaun girl in the cold doorway. “Run Nex! You must Run!” She shouted in the Rakaun tongue, then turned and disappeared into the dark with on final “Run!” Confused, he looked back to see the fire had escaped and spread. It reached over the mantle with tentacles of flame and leaped across the floor in waves. Nex floundered through a mess of chairs and tables that crowded his path to escape. The flames reached the sword as Nex struggled to his feet at the door. From Malek’Reth the fire exploded, enveloping the bar in an inferno. The blast sent Nex flying through the open door and into darkness. After an endless fall, Nex landed in a jumbled heap. Struggling, he stood. He looked up to see a glowing figure. As he focused the Rakaun girl came into view and was clear as day against the blackness that surrounded them. “I-“ Nex said as he began to walk. “I know you.” She reached out to him as a buzz began to stir in his mind. “Run Nex.” It was but a whisper behind the grow of the buzzing. He ran to her but could not seem to get any closer and the harder he ran the further away she grew, still reaching but to no avail. “Wait!” His own words were lost behind the rattling buzz in his ears. “Wait…” Maleka appeared in front of Nex and grasped him by the throat. The buzz ceased. Blood dripped from his majestic form and Nex felt a fear greater than anything he had before. The Murderer smiled in his face. With silver wings Maleka lifted Nex into the air and with a flick of his wrist he sent him hurdling back to the ground. With a heavy thud Nex landed in a rickety wooden chair. He looked around at the pub he once slaved at. “Welcome back, Garrah.” The bearded stranger sat before him at the table; his once missing arm now replaced with an armored sleeve and gauntlet that oozed blood like a fountain. “You are a liar Garrah. You are a murderer too. Do you not believe it is time you accepted your fate?” Nex slid the fork from his pocket. His arms felt like they were made of water. With a jump, Nex thrust the fork forward at his foe. Maleka smacked the fork from his grasp in a flash and caught Nex as he flew, again holding him, with ease, by his neck. “Exit the way you did last time, Garrah!” Maleka spun and cast Nex through the window of the pub. The shutters shattered and Nex found himself rolling across a large stone table. At table’s end he fell hard onto the cold floor. As he struggled to his hands and knees the fireplace burst with a familiar heat. “What choice do you think you have?” A large bear's head roared from above the mantel. "How far can you run from you fate?" Run Nex. The Rakaun girl’s voice was little more than a whisper. “As far as I have to…” Nex took off for the doorway at the hall’s end. He threw large wooden chairs in the path of the encroaching fire. As Nex turned back to the door, Maleka was impeding the way. His silver wings blew Nex back and took the fire to every corner of the room. It swirled around Nex, waving in and out, snapping bites of flame at him. “Embrace the fire Nex. You cannot live without it.” Nex faltered to his knees. “Embrace the fire Nex.” He cradled his head in his arms and yelled. The swirling inferno melted into blistering snow that rained down on him. “Embrace the fire…” The cold forced Nex to his back and he looked off into the cold abyss. A spark of flame twinkled in the distance. … .. . Nex opened his eyes to the blistering cold of a Rhivician snow storm. The winds whistled in the night sky, blanketed in black, specked with sparks of light. Nex struggled to move but his limbs were mostly numb and what he could feel was weak and immobile. A hooded face came into view. “The fire…” Nex struggled to say. "The fire...” As his eyes closed the face of a skeleton began to drag his body to the beyond. The being murmured a prayer that was lost to Nex. “I…” The world faded to black. “I…will…embrace……” Previous Chapter North to Rhivic Next Chapter The Monster